Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Dr. K.

Without going into the details, the past 24 hours have been unexpected and dramatic. With no warning, my son collapsed and was rushed to E.R. #1, where they were ready to send us home, except that our Voice of Reason, otherwise known as Dr. K, prevailed. We went to Better E.R. #2, otherwise known as Civilization. All is fine now and the drama and suspense are behind us. This is just a small way to say: We love Dr. K.

Dear Dr. K.,

Thank you for marrying who you did and moving to Mathews, more than likely a destination you would never have selected. Because you did marry him (whom I have known forever and also admire except that he has this habit of being a p.h. - ask him what that is and wait for him to tell a lie about it referring to me), I knew you were a good person. Step One for a quicker transition to Mathews: Know someone who is from here. Marrying them is even better.

Thank you for moving here in spite of the fact that you and he could have been successful doctors anywhere in the country. Anywhere. And incredibly successful. Did I say ANYWHERE?

Thank you for being so funny and so entertaining. I've said before you missed your calling as a stand-up comedienne. Step Two for being successful here is the ability to put people, especially From Heres who often are intimidated by outsiders, immediately at ease and able to say anything without being perceived as different or inferior. You are able to do this in the first minute of talking to a patient.

Thank you most of all for being the only voice I heard, understood and--this is critical-- believed in a situation where I thought my son was going to die. He didn't and he's fine, but you were the only person whose voice stood out and made sense to me. Your prediction as to how it would play out regarding next steps-- even though you did this over the phone without seeing Son--were so vastly different from the emergency personnel there with Son. You set my expectations right up front as to what we might be dealing with, and projected a sense of urgency when the hospital staff was ready to send us on home.

Even when we got to Major Hospital Number Two, where every possible local expert you could want was on hand, your voice and opinion took precedence over everything.

Mathews is a small town without a lot of high-fallutin' luxuries. But the quality of the people who are either born here or choose to live --and for that matter WORK-- here cannot be matched. Anywhere. By Anyone.

Thank you, Dr. K. As I told you today, you grossly underestimate the value of your phone calls and your solid, straight-forward, no-horsin' around words.

And thank you Mr. R. for marrying her and bringing her here.

11 comments:

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

The following comment was sent to me from Dr. K. herself after she read this:

"That's great-- thanks so much for this but, really, it's MY JOB -- which I do love...."

What she fails to understand is that so many people "do their jobs" whether they like it, love it, or hate it, and they don't care if they come close to meeting expectations.

Dr. K. meets, exceeds and puts a nice neat bow on the package called Expectations.

Mental P Mama said...

Wow. As a mother, I cannot imagine that heartstopping panic you must have felt. So, so, so glad all is well.

MommyTime said...

I'm so glad your son will be fine! And good for you for putting this out there for Dr. K. People deserve public thanks in this world where it's all too common only to hear the criticisms in public.

foolery said...

My heart skipped a beat as I pictured being in an E.R., period, but certainly for a child -- and with a staff whose diagnosis you don't trust. Kudos to Dr. K for living up to all that her job means, and then some. Great letter.

Hoping you have stopped shaking, CBW!

Anonymous said...

I am glad for Dr. K. as well. She always has the answer to everything. She always eases your fears.
I too am especially Proud of Dr. S. We had a lot of fun in H.S. The Beta conventions, Yeah! He pursued his dream and made it a reality. I admire him for that.

Sam Hendricks said...

Glad all is ok CBW.

"The only thing worse than the unknown, is knowing an expert who does not know"

Wish we had a Doc K

PS I am watching a drizzly, cold day start thinking of you and all the bright Mathews sunshine. Maybe the majority of the sunshine there is generated by people like Dr K and yourself. :)

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

Thank you all so much. Really.

And Sam, Dr. K and others around here do generate the sunshine, that's why we have so of it. I, however, am usually responsible for a weather phenomenon known as a whirlwind. A whirlwind of chaos and confusion....

We're off to see the good Dr. K this morning, and then hopefully this entire incident will be history.

Anonymous said...

I have been there, too, on an ambulance ride with a very sick son. What followed was quite an ordeal, but our own pediatrician, who has been his doctor since birth, was fantastic, even as she was referring us to the expert specialist care she knew he would need.

Hope they've determined a cause and ruled out future episodes! Because that helpless feeling? When you know you Neosporin and a cartoon bandage won't work? It sucks.

Bear Naked said...

So sorry to hear this.
Hopefully today everything will be better.
God Bless

Patty said...

Hi
I dropped by from the Sky Watch Friday photo comments. Sorry to hear your son was ill. I am glad everything turned out ok.
It looks like we are neighbors since I live in Newport News.
I'm going to bookmark you and will be back by. I hope to get to know you better via your blog
Patty

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

soup - See your site for proof that we're kin.

bear - thank you. Everything is right back to normal, and it's great.

patty - You're definitely close by. We go to Newport News to Patrick Henry which represents the closest mall. And when I say we go, I mean once every two years we go! Thank you for commenting.